Confused Identity
by Priest Li Xiang
Summary: [Book 4] Identity-verse; Mercenaries... Assassins... there's not much difference. Especially when it's Yohji who's the Mercenary.
1. Forever

I neither own Ranma Nibunnoichi, Weiss Kreuz, Final Fantasy Eight,   
Sailormoon, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you want to use Saotome   
Yuki in any of your fics, please direct all permission asking towards   
Mei Neko, her creator, at mangartist_2001@yahoo.com.   
  
If the idea of man-on-man or girl-on-girl squicks you, don't bother to   
read. There are some rather violently possessive people in this fic   
(*coughYukiSculdichFarfiecough*), all of whom aren't exactly straight.   
... Well, you could argue about Farfie. His lover does have a habit of   
changing genders with a thought.  
  
And there are Het-couples to. I'm an equal oppurtunity person, and a   
realist. Not everyone is homosexual, and not everyone is heterosexual.   
Yays ^___^  
  
This won't make sense unless you've read the three previous books,   
False Identity, True Identity, and Hidden Identity. I really mean this,   
people. Otherwise, how will you understand the SchuuKen subplot, the   
reasons that everyone's in FF8, and why they lack memories? Or, how   
about who the hell Yuki is. *nodnodnod* Therefore, you can find Books   
One, Two and Three at:  
  
http://ladycosmos.anifics.com  
http://tannim.anifics.com  
http://li_xiang.anifics.com  
http://nighthawk.anifics.com  
http://archives.anifics.com  
http://www.reikaifiles.com  
  
  
  
Confused Identity  
Prologue : Forever  
Li Xiang  
  
  
Yohji stumbled to a halt at the doors that seemed so massive, once   
again cursing his life. What had it been now, four _years_? The others   
had probably forgotten him by now-- and even if they had not they would   
be looking for someone in their twenties, not a five year old. So lost   
in his morbid thoughts was he, that he never noticed the small,   
redheaded blur rocketing out of the orphanage.  
  
Therefore, it should come as no surprise, that he found himself flat on   
his back, at the bottom of the stairs, a younger girl-- only by a year   
or so-- laying on top of him. She blushed, apologizing and scrambling   
to her feet, looking at the ground instead of at him.  
  
"'M sowee. I didn' see yoo..."  
  
Kudou winced, wishing with all his might that the little girl's   
memories would free themselves, as he dropped his hand to her shoulder,   
"S'ok, Sefie, no harm done."  
  
Her head snapped up and a grin crossed her face, "Irvy!"  
  
He smiled weakly, and she noticed. Like any child would, she began to   
poke and prod his stomach in an attempt to force him to tell her what   
was wrong. But what could he say? Less than a week ago, he had just   
been Irvine, the orphaned boy living in Centra. Now, after that bizarre   
chance encounter with one of the GFs-- the blue lady-like one, the ice   
queen; he thought her name was Shiver or something like that-- his   
memories were freed of their restraints, he could recall his previous   
lifetime as Kudou Yohji, aka the assassin Balinese.  
  
He ignored that a few of his memories from his current life were   
missing-- who care about _that_? In any case, the last thing he could   
remember, prior to his earliest memories of this life, was the spell   
being cast by Willow Rosenberg, wanna-be Sorceress. Had the spell   
killed them? Was it a bizarre form of Cosmos's revenge for killing the   
Sailor Senshi?  
  
Well, it hardly mattered. Kudou Yohji no longer existed. Irvine was his   
new name, his new identity, his new life. He had not seen anyone else,   
excluding Rache-- who was now "Selphie"--, Nagi-- who had become   
"Squall"--, Omi-- ironically, Squall's rival, "Seifer"-- and   
surprisingly, Nabiki, who he had only seen from a distance the day   
before last. Then she was gone, vanishing into a multi-hued wisp of   
smoke. So did the strange older-than-the-original-Nagi, of whom he   
presumed was really an older Squall. Except the man had just faded out,   
not vanish into a smoke cloud, following a short, but barbed,   
conversation with Matron Edea.  
  
After several long minutes of not receiving an answer to her questions,   
Selphie happened to think upon part of the reason why he was being so   
grumpy and distant all of a sudden.  
  
"Oh! Yoo upset abou' bein' a-doe... a-dope... a--"  
  
"Adopted," Yohji supplied sulkily.  
  
"Yeah! Tha's it!" she smiled brightly, "Yoo upset abou' it?"  
  
"A bit..."  
  
"Why'sat?"  
  
He sighed, looking away, "I might not see you again, Sefie."  
  
"Irvy's silly!" Selphie giggled, "Sefie's goin' be rite here!"  
  
He shook his head, "You might end up adopted too..." he gave a sad   
smile, "Besides, the Kinneas' live in Deling City. That's a long ways   
away. Matron showed us on a map, remember?"  
  
"Oh... Irvy?"  
  
"Yeah Sefie?"  
  
"Best friends forever?"  
  
"Forever and eternity," he vowed with yet another weak grin. He tapped   
her on the forehead, "So long as we don't forget each other, ne?"  
  
"I'll neva fo'get!"  
  
---  
  
End Prologue  
  
And anyone who has played the game knows right now that Selphie   
forgets. ^___^;;  
  
And a short prolouge. No one complain, Book 3 came out all of thirty   
seconds ago, and Book 3 is forty pages long, and was hell to   
spellcheck. Bidah. 


	2. Resuce

Mei has changed her email: mei_neko2001@yahoo.com Remeber, she's the   
one to ask if you want to use Saotome Yuki in your fics!  
  
The Reviewer Man - I update every Saturday Morning.  
  
Y_K - Would you believe that I never even thought of that? . Yeah,   
we're doing a skippies over the whole game, right to the very end. I   
thought about trying to put the characters in in the middle of the war,   
but it didn't turn out right. I've actually writen THREE versions of   
the first few chapters. I finally settled onto one I liked two weeks   
ago (they all had the same prologue, so I wouldn't have to worry about   
it until this week, but it's always nice to be prepared.)  
  
Juuchan - Jei and Fujin are the same person, yes. And while I did chose   
a couple characters based on their looks, I'm not solely chosing based   
on them (otherwise Aya, Ran, Crawford, and a few others wouldn't be   
trying to kill me for the parts I gave them...).  
  
Kyra - Eventually it'll make sense. Maybe by the epilogue, ne? *grins*   
Hopefully sooner than that, though.  
  
Adyen - Rache is bubblely because Rache is around five years old. She's   
not going to stay that way-- any fan of FF8 is well aware of Selphie's   
obsession with explosions (she wants to blow up the train in the first   
disc ^___^), and she's a Mercenary; a rather good one at that. She's   
been trained to kill; the whole bubbleliness is a cover up for the fact   
that's she's overly skilled with those big ass nunchaku of hers...  
  
Chibi Kitsune - Uh... *looks at her list* There are lots of crossover.   
They just come in one book at a time, and then leave... occasionally   
leaving behind a character or two. *hentai grin* Mmm, Seifer/Squall   
goodness... *sighs* Unfortunately (for you and me...) I've got plans   
and stuff, and both Seifer and Squall hook up with girls. Not my normal   
thing, since I like hooking them up with each other... and about the   
original bodies... Well, that's what magic is for, ne?  
  
Rokeon - Nah, Farfie's sanity was never in question. Fujin likes to   
hurt things just as much as our dear Jei-sama, she just hides it better   
with the whole "Shout one word sentences" thing. She kicks Raijin lots.   
*starts laughing for no apparent reason* Oh, I love that. Fu kicks Rai.   
Hehehehehehehe (you'll understand in a later chapter)  
  
*bows repeatedly to Ran* Thank you for not kill me... I won you a   
hundred bucks? *blink-blinks* Really? Cool. I have a bad habit of   
writing cliffies, don't I?   
  
Nightwings - He still has his telekinesis... he just doesn't know how   
to use it, let alone knows it's there. Aya is... heh, don't want to   
spoil that. It's funny. And Farfie and Bradlies are being raised   
somewhere... up until the point they head to Garden... Your favorite?   
Very well, as it is your favorite, I find I must... Post another   
chapter! *heroic pose*  
  
Skrya - If Rache was reborn as Rinny, then I couldn't pair Rache and   
Yohji up. Rinny has a much different part to play. So does Quistis for   
that matter... You paired Rinoa and Diablos? I always hooked Diablos up   
to either Squall or Quistis; although a lot of the other GFs got hooked   
up to incompatible characters. I've onyl got six books currently   
planned... when I started False Identity, there was only supposed to be   
one sequel! Therefore... I do not plan books, they come to me.   
  
Longer Chapters coming soon! I started writing with really tiny print   
in my fic notebook, while keeping the same number of pages being writen   
in. ^___^  
Confused Identity  
Chapter one : Rescue  
Li Xiang  
When reality righted itself again, there was a flurry of activity. Had   
they been anyone else, they would not have gone to such actions   
immediately following Time Compression. But they were not just anyone   
else. They were the elite, the powerful, the lethal...  
  
...and they went to save one Sorceress Ultimecia's life.  
  
"Yuki! Gate Ken, Jun, Spike and me to Omi!" barked one Saotome Ranma,   
who was cradling his redheaded daughter to his chest, "Take Kasumi with   
you, too!"  
  
Saotome Yuki didn't even hesitate. Hesitation could mean failure, and   
this group refused to accept failure of any sort. The Sorceress had   
been rebuilding her mana stores since first arriving in this realm, and   
was now at the point where her power level was high enough to cast the   
spell without having to wait: Instant Activation.  
  
The two youngest Saotome-- seventeen years of age and six months old--   
were whisked through one of the two open gates, followed by Hidaka Ken   
and William the Bloody. Ranma hit the ground at a dead run, ignoring   
his surroundings. With his daughter in his arms, the ebony haired   
martial artist was doing more jumping than running, in reality.   
Normally, bouncing around as such would likely kill a child, but Ranma   
was special.  
  
His leaps had him soaring through the air, barely touching the ground   
for a split second, before taking flight once more. He would be in the   
air for two, maybe three minutes, as he covered a surprising amount of   
ground with each leap.  
  
Finally, a glint of golden hair caught his eye, and he dropped next to   
the broken body of one Seifer Almasy. Saotome gave a low whistle, as   
Spike and Ken finally caught up.  
  
"He's a right bloody mess..." mused the vampire.  
  
"He needs some serious medical care," Ken returned, kneeling beside his   
once teammate. He was more than a bit surprised to see that the younger   
male's eyes were open, "Shit! He's still conscious!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
Ranma peered over into the blonde's face. Jun-chan blinked wide   
burgundy-hued eyes at him, cooing softly, "Well, I'll be damned...   
Look, Almasy, we're going to fix you up. Might hurt, though. Ken?   
Spike?"  
  
The two named picked up the downed Sorceress' Knight-- although one   
would have sufficed, jarring the Knight like that would likely result   
in making his already severe injuries even worse-- and carefully   
returned the way they had come.  
  
The entire time, Seifer's pain filled aqua eyes were locked on the   
gleeful looking child cradled in her parent's arms. He had to wonder   
why the man had brought such a young child with him into a battle   
field.  
  
Still, it was a comfort. Watching Jun's "activities" kept his mind off   
his shattered body.  
  
---  
  
Yuki exited the warp much like her brother had-- at a dead run. She   
ricocheted around the landscape, quickly leaving Kasumi, Oz and   
Schuldich behind. The dark-haired Sorceress had locked onto an   
all-too-familiar-- and swiftly fading-- magical signature.  
  
There! The battered body of Ultimecia loomed in her vision, and she   
dropped to the ground. Slightly annoyed, she banished the glamour that   
forced Ultimecia to appear older than her eighteen years.  
  
"Wha-what do-do you want?" rasped the half dead Sorceress. She had   
passed her powers onto Edea in the past. She could die...  
  
"Always were a self-centered bitch," mused Yuki, stooping down and   
letting some of her own mana flow through the drained woman. Once she   
had almost halved her own amount of power, she halted the transfer.   
Ultimecia gave a pitiful mewl as her body converted the outsider's mana   
to match her own stores. She began to slowly heal the damage done by   
expelling to much mana at once.  
  
"Why..."  
  
For once, the Sorceress' mind was clear. She could feel the vibrant hum   
of her connection to her Knight. Strange, she thought, I never had the   
spell cast on the boy...  
  
/Not in this life time,/ rumbled a voice in the back of her mind, /But   
you had someone cast it before./  
  
"Who dares?!" she raged, incensed at the intrusion into her mind. She   
would _kill_ the fool who--!  
  
"Easy there," Yuki clamped a hand onto the younger Sorceress' shoulder,   
"You're not in any position to chase down Schuldich."  
  
"Nabiki...?"  
  
Ultimecia jerked out of Yuki's grip, whirling to face the soft,   
confused voice. It was a voice she knew only from the torturous dreams   
she had since childhood. Dreams of having a family, people who cared.   
It was not possible... "K-k-Kasumi...?"  
  
"Nabiki-chan!" and suddenly, the weakened Sorceress had her broken arms   
full of a sobbing, shaking, Tendou Kasumi. The tears startled her,   
having never seen her "older sister" cry in the dreams, excluding the   
time shortly after their "mother" had passed on, "Oh gods Nabiki! Don't   
do that to me! First mama, then Akane... I didn't want to lose you,   
too!"  
  
Ultimecia was stunned. No one had ever acted like this to her. As a   
child, merely introducing herself had grown men and women shaking in   
their boots, and children fleeing in terror. She had been a street kid,   
brought up by herself, with no support.  
  
Then came this woman, someone she had only ever seen in dreams,   
suddenly brought to life.  
  
She felt that she should hate this woman. Felt that she should have   
come sooner. But the all-too-real sobs, the arms locked around her   
waist, and the aura of sadness and depression shadowing her prevented   
it.  
  
She knew, and yet, did not know, this woman, but she was a trusted   
confident. Ultimecia cradled the sobbing woman, amber eyes lifting to   
spy upon their watchers.  
  
The older Sorceress was smirking, watching the interactions between the   
sisters. The redheaded man was also smirking, but for what reason she   
could not fathom, as he was staring into the sky. And the final man was   
watching Kasumi with a saddened look. He offered the battered Sorceress   
a weak smile.  
  
Once the eldest Tendou daughter's tears had run their course, Yuki   
clapped her hands, "Time to go!"  
  
"Go where?" wondered the still weak Tendou Nabiki aka Sorceress   
Ultimecia.  
  
"Back to our apartment," Schuldich grinned, "Your Knight in Battered   
Trenchcoat should be back there by now."  
  
"_If_ Ranma didn't take a pit stop to bother him in telling them where   
Farfello is," Oz muttered. The elder Saotome shrugged.  
  
"Doesn't matter," she grinned ruthlessly, "Hang on tight!" and she   
opened the gate right beneath their feet.  
  
---  
  
Seifer had _no_ clue what was going on. The three men had taken him   
through a spell-gate, not unlike the ones his Sorceress would cast for   
transportation. Then, they had set him down on a bench with leather   
cushions. He had been laying there, basking in the pain that was in   
every muscle and bone, before the man who had been dotting his daughter   
around returned.  
  
The Knight had been stripped out of his clothing, following the return.   
He had thought the man would do something to humiliate him. He _had_   
killed a rather large number of people.  
  
Ha! What hypocrites, he thought bitterly, if I'd have been killing   
under Garden's commands, no one would have batted an eye.  
  
To his surprise, however, the man began to expertly clean and bind his   
wounds. And he was talking all the while.  
  
"If your mind hadn't been fucked over from the transition," he had   
cheerfully begun, "You would be violently opposed to me fixing you up.   
It would have gone against what Nabiki liked. I'm Ranma, by the way.   
Ex-fiance of Ultimecia's younger sister. Heh, she was _not_ a happy   
woman when I let Jei-sama-- hmm, Fujin I think she's currently going   
by-- put Akane into a coma."  
  
Fujin? wondered the man, he knows _Fujin_? No, it's probably a   
different Fujin.  
  
But how many people had names like that...? a small part of his mind   
whispered. He quickly used a mental version of Hyperion to slice it   
into pieces and blow it up at the same time.  
  
"S'why she became a Sorceress in the first place," the man tore off a   
length of adhesive tape, binding Almasy's arms, "She played a nasty   
trick on me in response, you know? I bet when she gets her memory back,   
she'll try to kill me."  
  
Mistress lost her memory? Oh, this was so confusing! Ranma looked about   
to say something else when a number of surprised cries rang out.   
Followed by a very loud, very male, "_YUKI_!!"  
  
"Looks like my sister's back," snickered the martial artist, "Betcha   
she gated Schuldich into Ken's room."  
  
"Hey Ranma!" a way too cheerful Yuki popped into the room, paused,   
looked over at the injured man, and whistled, "Wow, you looked royally   
screwed over."  
  
He glared at her.  
  
She raised her hands, "Lay off. I'd heal you, but you're Nabiki's   
Knight, not mine. A Sorceress can _not_ heal another's Knight.   
Conflicting powers and what not. Knights don't have the natural mana   
patterns a Sorceress uses to convert mana types into their own..." she   
trailed off, suddenly realizing that she was lecturing someone who   
really did not care about magic and mana.  
  
The suddenly, Yuki was giddy again, "Guess what, guess what, guess   
what?!"  
  
"You've finally learned that you are no match for the awesome power of   
Ranma the Hell god?" Pose.  
  
"Don't be a moron, you're a Hell goddess," she snorted, "Nabiki does   
have access to some of her memories-- up to about a year prior to   
_your_ arrival at her home, dear brother-of-mine."  
  
"Oh... well, that's good!" Ranma was grateful. That was enough memories   
for the young Sorceress to be Nabiki _and_ to keep her from trying to   
kill him again.  
  
"However, Schu plans on releasing all her memories _after_ she gets all   
her powers back, heals herself and Tsuki-- sorry, Almasy here," Yuki   
was grinning widely, anticipating a nice show of bloodshed.  
  
"Dammit..." with a sigh, the martial artist returned to bandaging   
Seifer. The Knight had successfully battled off the blush that had   
arisen when he had realized that he was very much naked, and in the   
presence of a woman. Not that Ranma would have understood the reason   
why he was blushing. This is Ranma, after all, and he had probably have   
just thought that the heat of the room was getting to Almasy. Or maybe   
he had a sunburn...  
  
Ranma paused, holding a piece of tape in the air, ready to use it to   
secure a strip around Seifer's upper left arm, "Hey, 'Ki...?"  
  
"Yeah Kitty?"  
  
"We're going to find Jei-sama next, right?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
---  
  
Irvine had just barely dragged himself into the bed in the Balamb   
Garden infirmary. He knew he would sleep for days to make up for the   
nearly six months of no sleep he had been fighting the Sorceress. They   
all would.  
  
But before he could drift off into dreams and relive his life as Kudou   
Yohji, he felt a chill run down his spine.   
  
Something had changed.  
  
Something was coming.  
  
Something... familiar.  
  
Something that would change everything they knew. They-- not him.  
  
It looked like he would finally be found...  
  
---  
  
End Chapter  
  
Prepare for a completely random plotline that only Mei Neko and I can   
follow XD 


	3. Meet Again

Kyra - They know approximately where everyone is; the War was kinda   
public, and everyone knew who the fighters were. Since several of the   
fighters were the rest of the inhabitants of the House, it's pretty   
obvious where the 'heros' are.  
  
Evil Strategemini - Yeah, I've been planning this for awhile. And it's   
in book 2. But no bloodshed this chapter. It's coming, though. Don't   
you worry. Mwahahahahaha!  
  
Adyen - I am avoiding Time Compression. Time Compression is done and   
over with; we will not go back that way.   
  
Ran - *grins*  
  
Chibi Kitsune - Talent?  
Confused Identity  
Chapter Two: Meet Again  
Li Xiang  
Seifer dropped into the surprisingly plush leather armchair, and   
kicked his feet up with a fractional wince. His legs still hurt from   
the injuries he had sustained three weeks earlier, despite having   
mostly healed. So did his ribs, he mused a bit darkly, although hardly   
for the same reasons.  
  
Apparently, Ranma thought that because Almasy was staying at home to   
heal, that he would make the perfect babysitter for Jun. If he   
disagreed, Saotome would punch him in the chest, and despite the   
gender-bender being only half the size of the blonde, Ranma was still   
much stronger.  
  
So Seifer settled down into the chair and took Jun into his lap with a   
look of long suffering. Yuki patted him on the head, "This time   
tomorrow, you'll actually be sparing with baby brother."  
  
That cheered him up. Ranma was taking Ultimecia-- Nabiki-- to Deling   
City General Hospital to get the casts on her legs and left arm   
removed. The Sorceress would be able to properly cast magic again, and   
heal him to tip-top shape. Hidaka had mentioned moving back to the   
group's abode in Centra, in order to retrain Ultimecia in the proper   
use of her powers.  
  
Everyone else who lived in the small apartment in Deling City happened   
to be out. Spike was at his temporary bodyguard job, while Oz and   
Kasumi had taken Ken and Schuldich out on a double date-- as much as   
Ken liked to argue it was _not_ actually a date. Yuki was out scouting   
about for a new place to fit them all. It had been crowded in the   
three room apartment before. With the addition of Seifer and Nabiki,   
there was little to no room for all of them.  
  
"Take care of her, Tsukiyono!" Ranma called from the door, before   
guiding the wheel-chair bound Sorceress out and to the elevators.   
Seifer grunted a response.  
  
It was still strange to think that he had some alternate life, in   
which he had been Takatori Mamoru, then Tsukiyono Omi. That he had   
been dating his Sorceress, and had been an assassin for hire.  
  
Bouncing Jun in his lap, he thought about that one. Ultimecia had said   
it to be true and Schuldich had said he could unlock the memories.   
Unfortunately, the telepath was unable to break the magic seal on   
them, and had proclaimed that the only way he could do it was if   
Ultimecia first broke the seal her power had inadvertently made during   
the war.  
  
She would remove the spell when she returned after having the casts   
removed today. He would finally know if he actually _was_ this person   
they believed him to be.  
  
But... for now...  
  
"How 'bout a movie, Junny? Y'er mom said she had X 'round here   
somewhere."  
  
---  
  
Nabiki stretched sinuously, once out of the hospital, cracking her   
spine in a series of pops. A blissful smile crossed her features,   
"Free to walk!"  
  
Ranma smirked to himself, walking along behind the Sorceress. Nabiki   
had been forced to wear the casts by Yuki, as the elder Sorceress was   
not known for her healing spells. In fact, the _only_ healing spell   
she could preform without fail, was the hang-over cure she had   
invented. So the female Saotome had conjured up the materials for the   
casts, then used them on Nabiki's arms and legs. It was mostly just in   
case Yuki botched the spell, and Nabiki would have to heal the normal,   
magicless way.  
  
As it was, Yuki _had_ botched the "heal-all" spell she had made up off   
the top of her head. It failed to heal everything that had been broken   
in the battle with SeeD, but it _had_ increased the younger   
Sorceress's healing exponentially. For that, Nabiki was eternally   
grateful. Something about casts just rubbed her the wrong way.  
  
She assumed she would learn why, once Schuldich freed those memories   
she could not recall-- the memories she had once thought to be dreams.   
She would stop feeling so... empty.  
  
That emptiness had spurned her onwards, to grasp at, to control, to   
dominate the dark magics she owned. But then the darkness controlled   
her, caused insanity, and forced her through the weaves of time to   
face her destiny.  
  
Destiny... ha!  
  
She had read those texts from her time. Sorceress Ultimecia had died.   
It was recorded, the body found. But she had not died, and that meant   
history could be changed. Or was it the future? Already, her memories   
of that future were hazy, as though she had never really existed   
there.  
  
And perhaps it was true. Yuki has supposed she had instinctively   
erected a magic 'bubble' so she could heal from the amount of power   
Rosenberg's banishing spell had drained from her. It was possible; it   
would explain why she had been alone and scorned and attacked. Her   
subconscious insecurities railing against her, summoning creations of   
her own mind to make her life a living hell.  
  
Ah, well... Nabiki lifted a hand, experimentally flicking a wrist. A   
gate opened within the closest alley, and a grin crossed her features.   
It was good to be back.  
  
Ranma trailed after the Sorceress, keeping a wary eye upon her. As   
long as she was memory-less, she would be relatively harmless.   
However, Schuldich wanted to remove the block on her more recent   
memories of her life as Tendou Nabiki, and as soon as that happened;   
'harmless' Ultimecia would become 'revenge-driven' Nabiki. Not that   
she posed a threat to _Ranma_, it was the possibility that Ultimecia's   
general lack of anything nearing a conscience that could lead her to   
harming Jun.  
  
That would be tantamount to suicide on the Sorceress's side of things.  
  
He stepped through the Gate, still following Nabiki, and came out in   
his living room, eyes immediately searching for his baby girl.  
  
Seifer and Jun were laying on their bellies in front of the   
television, avidly watching Rave. The cases for X and Saiyuki were   
laying open, the discs haphazardly dropped back in.  
  
"You better not have ruined my discs, Tsukiyono!"  
  
The muscular blonde started, rolling over to stare up at the ebon   
haired martial artist, "Hyne on a pyre!" he barked, "You just come out   
of nowhere, don't you?"  
  
"It's not that hard to do," smirked the gender-bender, sweeping his   
daughter up into his arms, "'Lo there Jun-chan. How's m'girl? Uncle   
Tsukiyono didn't do anythin' bad right? He didn't ruin my disks,   
right? If it were your Auntie Yuki's, he'd be a dead man."  
  
Jun cooed happily, snuggling into her currently male mother's arms.   
The martial artist moved towards the small apartment's kitchen, "You   
do the mystic mojo on your boy toy, Nabiki."  
  
The Sorceress scowled mightily at the thought that her powers were   
simply 'mystic mojo', but turned back to her Knight after a moment or   
two. He pulled himself up into a kneeling position, and she dropped   
onto her knees. Nabiki placed the very tips of her fingers on Seifer's   
temples, and closed her amber eyes.  
  
Mana flowed through her, and into Seifer, her consciousness following   
swiftly after, sweeping into every nook and cranny of her Knight's   
mind. She could feel the call of her own power humming within his   
body, and mentally followed the thread to its source. The block and   
Seifer's memories that she had unconsciously created during the Second   
Sorceress War.  
  
The weave of the magic was strong, and she bit her lip while   
attempting to unravel the spell. This was not going to be easy.  
  
---  
  
The blonde haired vampire growled low in his throat, as he padded   
along behind the pair he had been assigned to guard. It was not like   
_they_ needed a guard, it was the fact that they needed someone to   
beat off the press. Still, he _really_ did not want to be here. It   
had been over a year, but he still was not used to being able to walk   
in the sunlight. It was rather hard to break over a century of   
survival instincts.  
  
"Oh! Oh, Spike! Hi Spike!"  
  
Irvine Kinneas and Zell Dincht paused as their mandatory babysitter   
halted midstep. Turning back, Zell burst out laughing as their   
intimidating bodyguard was almost bowled over by a brown haired   
housewife.   
  
"Kasumi?"  
  
"You haven't been home in three days!" Kasumi scolded, hitting his   
shoulder, "You don't know the good news!"  
  
Spike was skeptical, "Yuki died a horrible, horrible death?"  
  
"You'd have known if _that_ happened; considering you'd be dead, too,"   
came a dry voice from behind the brunette, and Kinneas' eyes widened.   
Could that _possibly_ be _Schuldich_...?!  
  
/There's no 'possibly'/ answered a voice in his mind, /Schuldich I be.   
S'bout time we found one of you, Balinese./  
  
"Friends of yours, Spike?" Zell wondered, eying the group with an   
amused grin. You would never think 'big-bad-tough-and-evil' Spike   
would be friends with this rag-tag group. A housewife, a redhead in   
what appeared to be a woman's jacket, a brown-haired guy wearing   
  
goggles, and a rain-bow haired teenager. Nope, definitely not material   
to be friends with the leather bound Spike.  
  
"Roommates," he grumbled, "What's this good news, Kasumi?"  
  
"Nabiki's getting her casts off!"  
  
Irvine could not help it; he groaned, "Please, please, please tell me   
that homicidal chick isn't here."  
  
Schuldich laughed out right, "She's not 'homicidal', Kinneas. She   
can't remember anything after about a year before Bishoujo arrived at   
the Dojo."  
  
"My mistake," Irvine drawled, ignoring Zell's surprised stare,   
"Money-grubbing, back-stabbing, hacker chick, then."  
  
"You know these guys?" came Zell's stunned voice, and the cowboy   
nodded a bit reluctantly.  
  
He pointed to Oz, Schuldich and Ken first, "Lived with those three and   
a few others a while back," then to Kasumi, "and a friend of mine was   
dating her sister," he shrugged at Zell, "No idea why they're in   
Deling City, though..."  
  
"We've been looking for you and the others," Oz answered, "You   
wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"  
  
"Yeah, I know where Rache, Farfello, Nagi and Fei Li are. Omi's dea--"  
  
"Omi's very much alive," Ken grinned, "He was damn lucky we found him   
when we did."  
  
"He's not lucky," Schuldich snickered, "He's stuck babysitting   
Jun-chan."  
  
Zell was starting to feel left out, "Who's Jun Chan?"  
  
"Chan is a suffix added to the names of children; or a term of   
endearment for--"  
  
"You sound like a bloody watcher, Ghost-boy," Spike interrupted, and   
Ken flushed angrily. Irvine raised an eyebrow and made note to ask   
about that; there was probably an interesting story involving his   
former teammate there.   
  
In any case, the vampire shot the goggle-wearing teen a toothy grin,   
and returned his attention back to Dincht.  
  
"Jun is the Cat's kitten."  
  
Zell's exclamation of confusion was overridden by Irvine's shout,   
"_Ranma_ has a _kid_?!"  
  
Schuldich grinned, depositing an image of young Jun directly into the   
former assassin's mind. Kinneas nee Kudou had to admit the kid was   
cute, but... "Who's the mom?"  
  
The cruel smirk on the German's lips should have given it away-- or   
the overplayed innocence dancing in Ken's eyes.  
  
"Oh, didn't you know?" Hidaka tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I know   
she tended to act like a boy, and there _were_ those times she dated   
girls but... Ranma's female."  
  
Zell was treated to the sight of Kinneas keeling over in a dead faint.   
Not from, as he assumed, that a long time friend managing to somehow   
keep her gender concealed from the flirt-- but because the man once   
known as Kudou Yohji knew all to well about Ranma's legendary hatred   
of his female form.  
  
That he had allowed himself to get pregnant... to give birth... _that_   
was mind blowing. And thus... he passed out.  
  
---  
  
End Chapter 


	4. Plans

Alright! Time to get my butt in gear! I apologize for the lack of chapters   
in recent weeks. I hit a rough spot in the plot and went 'what the hell?'   
Had no idea where to go from here.  
  
Then I had the proverbial silver-plated war hammer from hell smack me upside   
the head. So, a new chapter. Any and all weirdness that exceeds even my   
normal psychoticness... blame it on them! *points to Rob and Pat* Describing   
their D&D fun at eleven at night is not conductive to making Li a sane girl.  
  
That's okay though. None of you are here because my fics are sane, are you?   
^__^  
  
Rob - Email me. "Mia's Secret" has been bugging me for awhile, and all of a   
sudden I have the strangest urge to help you write it by throwing completely   
random ideas at your skull.   
  
S'revan - This will be chapter 67 overall. And I told you another chapter   
would go up today.  
  
Queen Momoko - My muses finally decided to come back from vacation. They're   
all tanned and I'm whiter than a ghost. Why did they leave me behind when   
they went to Burmuda? ;.;  
  
Chibi Kitsune - They have to savour this date, because with the stuff I've   
got planned... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  
  
Adyen - I do so love being evil.  
  
Evil Stratagemini - It's not that hard to learn about the game. Itch has a   
link to a couple of good FF8 sites on her rpg site. And gamefaq.com has some   
nice walkthroughs. Sorry, no bloodshed this chapter, but it's coming up   
quickly. ^__^  
  
Kyra - I am the explaination guru. I can explain even when the explainations   
need explainations ^__^V Ah, Nabiki's point of full rememberance. It's so   
much fun-- but no spoilers. Must leave that to when it comes in, non?  
  
Ran - Yes, the group will be reuniting, but only for a short while. The plot   
splits and so does the paths the characters take. Eh, I sound like one of   
those fortune-teller peoples. In any case, it should be fun. And when Rache   
start's to remember... *snickers* I love that part. It's so funny, in a dark   
evil way.  
  
---  
  
Confused Identity  
Chapter Three: Plans  
Li Xiang  
  
---  
  
Zell watched, with no little admiration, as Spike carried Irvine's insensate   
body to a small apartment at the edge of Deling City, under one arm, and   
with no apparent effort. Considering that Irvine had passed out near the   
Presidential Palace; that was quite the distance. Oz unlocked the door,   
opening it and giving the vampire access. Everyone else filed in after a   
moment.  
  
"Looks like everyone have vanished," mused Oz, and Ken checked the   
white-board on the fridge in their small kitchen.  
  
"Yeah. Omi and Nabiki left a note-- they've gone to dinner to celebrate   
breaking the block and...plotting ways to kill Ranma??"  
  
"Sounds like Nabiki," Schuldich smirked.  
  
"Ranma wrote hi--her own note. She and Jun-chan are going 'daddy' hunting."  
  
"So we've got the flat to ourselves?" wondered the British vampire, settling   
Irvine on the couch, and then leaving to appropriate some dinner.  
  
Zell sprawled on the floor, "So.... how'd you meet Irvine?"  
  
Oz shrugged, "Met him through Ranma. She bought a warehouse and Schuldich's   
younger sister remodeled it into a home. Ranma offered to let people live   
there with her, and we-- Ken, Schuldich Y-Irvine and I-- moved in. That's   
how I met him."  
  
"I worked with him in a flower shop--"  
  
"A _flower_ shop?" Zell snickered, "Kinneas?"  
  
"It was a way for him to hit on girls," Ken muttered, then sighed, "And that   
was the job he got after... Asuka... eh, any ways, I was already working   
there, and was actually the one to hire him."  
  
"What about you?" the blonde punk turned to the redheaded German, "How'd   
_you_ meet him?"  
  
Schuldich shrugged, "He dated my sister." He was _very_ careful to refrain   
from mentioning the whole killing aspect of their 'relationship'.  
  
Kasumi smiled happily, "I met him when he, Omi and Ken came over to talk   
with my middle sister."  
  
"Wow..." Zell put his hands behind his head, "This must have been before he   
became a freelance marksman, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Schuldich answered with a wry grin, "Several _years_ before then."  
  
"Hey, I'm back!" called a voice from the door.  
  
Kasumi twirled around, blessing their guest with a polite smile, "Welcome   
home, Yuki."  
  
The ebon tressed Sorceress bounced in, obviously on a sugar-high. She was   
smiling psychotically-- not that _that_ was anything new, "I found a _much_   
larger home-- _and_ leads on Jei and Bradley! Eh...? Who's the kid?"  
  
Zell blinked several times, "Er... Zell Dincht." He wiped his palms on his   
shorts-- he _really_ did not think that this lady would appreciate having   
grat guts smeared across her palm-- and then stuck it out for a hand shake.   
Not for the first time was his handshake ignored.  
  
At least _this_ person had an excuse for it, having flown over to the couch   
Kinneas was laid out upon, "Hey! You found the Playboy!"  
  
"Yeah," Ken nodded, an amused twinkle in his eyes, "He fainted when he heard   
about Jun."  
  
"I did not," came a grumble from the formerly unconscious youth on the   
couch. He tipped his hat up to glare irritably at his former teammate, "I...   
fell unconscious."  
  
"You fainted, pretty boy," teased the eldest Saotome, "Couldn't even stand   
the thought Ranma has a daughter."  
  
"So... it wasn't a joke?" came the plaintive whine.  
  
"No joke," Oz grinned, "pure truth. Ranma has a seven month old baby girl.   
Cute little pup, too."  
  
"Pup?" Zell wondered in abject confusion. Had he missed something? Ken   
patted the punk's shoulder consolingly.  
  
"Oz and Ranma are weird like that. For Oz, everything relates to wolves. For   
Ranma, it's cats. Including what they call children," Ken shrugged, "You get   
used to it after awhile."  
  
"Soooo, Scar-boy," Zell almost looked around for Squall, before he realized   
Yuki's gaze was on Irvine, "You're a gun-guy now? Never thought you the   
type."  
  
"If you're asking about the mono-filament wire," Zell was even _more_   
confused when Kinneas nee Kudou hauled out a chunky, oversized watch, "I   
still have it."  
  
"Good for you," Yuki paused, her eyes suddenly wide and sparkling, "Say...   
Yotan..."  
  
Irvine's eyes widened. Yuki _never_ called him by that _absurd_ nickname Omi   
had given him. Yuki wanted something, or else she was about to do something   
that would end up tormenting him for days, "Er... yeah... Yuki?"  
  
"What would you say about....?"  
  
"About?"  
  
"Oh, never mind," she pouted, "You'd never agree."  
  
"You can't say that!" the once Yohji cried, "I agreed to let you be Isis,   
remember?" He _very_ carefully made sure that he refrained from saying he   
'might' agree. Knowing Yuki, she would take that as permission and go do   
whatever the hell it was she was planning without telling anyone. That would   
be bad.  
  
"Oh, alright," she smiled a sickly sweet little grin, and Schuldich coughed   
to muffle his laughter as she opened her mind to him, the plan hovering   
almost serenely above all the chaos of her own, unique brand of insanity.  
  
"Would you mind if I borrow Garden's resident Sorceress, onegai?"  
  
---  
  
Raijin recoiled from the large, shiny blue-grey eyes that had suddenly   
dominated his vision. Pulling back, he found that the blue eyes were   
actually connected to the youthful face of a seventeen year old redhead, who   
had a baby in one of those baby carrier-things on her chest. The child was   
peacefully sleeping.  
  
"Eh... Can I help you?" he bit back the urge to stick 'ya know' randomly   
into that sentence. His boss took a whole gil off his paycheck every time he   
heard the dark skinned man say those two simple words.  
  
The sparkly sapphire doe-eyes abruptly returned to a more normal state of   
'tired mother', "Aa. I'm looking for someone and heard you--"  
  
"If you're looking for Seifer--" he bit out angrily; everyone knew he'd been   
a part of the Disciplinary Committee Seifer had headed. A lot of bounty   
hunters had come to him for information he didn't have. However, before he   
could finish, the teenager laughed a musical ringing laughter, and he was   
surprised the child hadn't awoken.  
  
"If I was looking for Bombay, I wouldn't have to look farther than my   
apartment couch. Lazy bum," she ignored Raijin's incredulous expression,   
"but now, I'm looking for Kaz-- sorry, Fujin Kazeno."  
  
"Fu?" Raijin tried to work that one out. Why in the _world_ would this cute   
little redhead be looking for his partner for??  
  
"Yeah," the redhead smiled deviously, "I've been looking for Fujin. And you,   
too, Braddikins."  
  
Raijin opened his mouth to protest the annoying nickname, before halting   
abruptly. Why would he think, even for a moment, that that had been a   
nickname of his? His name was not Bradley Crawford...  
  
... and when had she mentioned the name 'Crawford'? His hand flew to his   
forehead, "...the hell...?"  
  
She broke out a toothy grin, "Wow. Didn't think it'd be that easy, Bradders.   
Want a bit more of a memory boost?"  
  
"What the _hell do you... good bloody _Hyne_!" the exclamation flew from his   
lips as the redheaded chick suddenly became an ebon haired _guy_. A memory   
tugged itself from the void of non-remembrance that had always hovered   
behind his thoughts, and he found himself recalling a highly unusual memory.  
  
The shape-shifting male-- the memory gave him the impression that Ranma's   
natural form was the male one-- was tied to a chair in a kitchen. He   
appeared fairly annoyed as his curse was played with by Rache and Ken.  
  
"...Ranma...?"  
  
"Hey Crawfish," waved the teenager, "Must say, I like this version of you   
better than the white-white-amerkajin. So... where's Jei-sama... er...   
Fujin-sama...?"  
  
But Raijin wasn't listening to the other male. With the recall of the names   
Rache and Ken, came a number of other memories. Important memories.  
  
Like the connection between himself and the Gates of Time.  
  
Like Ken's old friend botching the spell, and scattering their group.  
  
Like the fact that he'd _known_ it would happen.  
  
"Hello? Bradlies? You in there?"  
  
He snapped out of his thoughts as Ranma snapped his fingers before the dark   
skinned one's nose. The younger teenager looked fairly annoyed, "S'bout time   
you came back to reality."  
  
"You wanted something, Ranma?" Raijin asked tiredly, although there was a   
flicker of amusement as he realized he still had to bite the inside of his   
cheek to keep from throwing a 'ya know' into that question.  
  
Even if he _did_ now had a number of memories from a completely different   
life time, on a completely different world, he was still good old Raijin   
Kinono.  
  
"Where's Jei-sama?"  
  
"Jei-sama...? Who was that? So, he didn't have _all_ the memories of Bradley   
Pegasus Crawford-- he made a mental note to kill his parents if they weren't   
already dead. Why, Hyne, had they decided on 'Pegasus' as a middle name?   
"...Who?"  
  
The blue eyed one sighed crossly, casting the dark-skinned staff-welding one   
a dark look, "Fujin."  
  
"Oh, Fu!" he grinned widely, and the small part of him that he now   
recognized as Crawford wanted to beat him over the head for acting like a   
moron, "She's back at our apartment, ya know? In a bad mood, but I guess   
it's just 'that time of the month'!"  
  
A year and a half earlier, Ranma wouldn't have had any idea as to what 'that   
time of the month' meant. Unfortunately Raijin, Ranma had gotten pregnant   
and then had the whole menstrual cycle explained to her. And even more   
unfortunate was that Ranma had constantly been female for the first four   
months of his daughter's life.  
  
So Raijin's laughter was cut short from being smacked upside the head by the   
only man in this realm to have ever experience the 'joy' of a period.  
  
"Owww!"  
  
Ranma snickered, "You deserved that."  
  
"Didja have to hit so _hard_?" he whined, rubbing the back of his skull and   
telling the Crawford-part of him to stop bitching. Hmph, at least when   
_Fujin_ decided to force him to embrace physical pain if was a kick to his   
shin-- something he'd gotten used to over the years.  
  
"That wasn't hard!" Ranma gave a bark of derisive laughter, "C'mon,   
weakling, where's your apartment?"  
  
"I'm off in 20," Raijin grumbled, still gingerly touching his scalp, "If you   
wanna stick around, I'll take you back to my place."  
  
When Ranma abruptly shifted back into female form, Raijin belatedly realized   
how what he'd just said would have sounded like to anyone eavesdropping on   
their conversation. He had the suspicion that he had never have done that   
during his life as the assassin Oracle, and it had nothing to do with the   
fact that his mental Crawford-self was repeatedly slamming his skull into a   
wall. His embarrassed flush just got bright. The redheaded   
seventeen-nearly-eighteen year old batted her eyelashes coyly, "Oh, I never   
knew you cared!"  
  
"I don't, ya know," he grumbled good-naturedly, shoving her face out of his.   
Her clear laughter rippled through the retail store, accompanied by her now   
awake-- when has she woken up?-- daughter's giggles.  
  
---  
  
End Chapter  
  
Bidah, it's done. And my hands hurt. I have been typing to much-- Route   
Unknown, all the information for Digital Existance of which is my Digimon   
RPG, stupid freaking data tables for Millennium Scales... etc  
  
Maybe there'll be another chapter next week.  
  
Maybe.  
  
Although if you _really_ want to make me write another chapter, you could   
always post ideas for enemies to get mauled. Or you could be one of the guys   
at my high school and beat me over the head with my Yugiou folder, or my   
rough draft notebook. That always helps ~__^ 


	5. Conversation

Ran - *grins* Even when I'm gone for two or three weeks, you still manage to   
be one of the first to review.   
  
Kyra - Wow, that's a long review... And I'll await your threatening emails   
the next time I slack off. Yay for everyone, I've got a chapter up this   
weekend, non? I can't actually show off Omi and Nabiki's plotting-- it'll   
destroy half of the story's plotline. Ehehehehehehehe ^___^ Yeah, Crawford   
isn't acting like Crawford-- he's acting like Raijin. You should see him   
just before the battle in Balamb Hotel; it's damned funny. Yeah, Farf is   
female in the world of FF8, which, thanks to Kingdom Hearts, I've gotten   
into the bad habit of calling "Bastion". Oh yeah, the Guardian of Time bit   
comes into play within the next couple books.   
  
Shou Ri - *grins* Well, at least somebody caught it. I won't be launching   
into it _this_ book, but book 5 or 6. I just needed a way to do it-- and   
what better way than connecting names? ^___^  
  
purple_alicorn - I'm glad to have made your day. And I don't think I could   
have abandoned this fic even if I wanted to. Most of my reviewers   
(especially Kyra and Ran, since they've already threatened me ^___^;;) would   
hunt me down to force me to write it; not to mention that the guys at school   
would hrut me if I didn't continue...  
  
Evil Stratagemini - ... have you been watching the Simpson's Halloween   
Special again? "Interesting" you say. *laughs* Oh, it's definately   
'interesting'. You should see what happens in the next chapter... oh wait,   
you will. _Next_ week. Blood and gore is creeping up on us. Chapter five or   
six, I believe, is when it starts. Rob already mentioned something to do   
with Happi, I just have to work it in; but I hadn't thought of the others.   
Ryouga will definitely have to come back for vengence, maybe with Saffron   
trailing along behind... oh, that would be funny; Saffron thinking Ryouga   
would lead him to Ranma ^.^;; Thanks for the ideas. Ouuu, maybe I should   
have Akane wake up from her coma one of these days. Months/years have   
passed, and she has _no_ idea what-so-ever as to what's going on...   
*snickers*  
  
Rokeon - Yeah, I updated XD I thought about answering your questions in the   
reviews I made of your fic and poems, but thought better of it. I haven't   
read Weiss Side B, but I heard some things about it. I have nothing against   
Crawford. In fact, back when I started False Identity, Crawford was planned   
to be one of the main characters. Schuldich just kinda took his place. Any   
way, as I was saying, I've nothing against the guy, I love his character,   
and his glasses (especially the Evil Gleaming Glassess of Doom[tm]) but he's   
just to much fun to play with. The uptight one as the uptight senshi, then   
as the major goofball of FF8, and finally that obsessive schizopsychopath   
Pegasus? I couldn't resist! And no, he's not going to take orders from Omi.   
Although his personality likes to shift-- and often-- he's got enough   
Crawford in him that he only takes orders from someone if they're paying   
him. *shrugs* Mercenary Assassins. Go figure. ^___^  
  
-  
  
Confused Identity  
Chapter Four - Conversation  
  
-  
  
Omi had found the evening surprisingly exciting. Perhaps it was that he had   
access to the memories Ultimecia had locked away. Perhaps it was the   
knowledge that he'd known from a few weeks prior to heading off to Balamb   
Garden at age seven that he had come from another reality. It could have   
been the realization of his romantic dream: re-finding the Sorceress he had   
loved above life.  
  
Or it could have been the stunned terror everyone on the streets showed him.  
  
It was rather amusing; whispers of 'the Sorceress' Knight' and 'oh my good   
Hyne!" and the ever unforgettable, 'the bastard's alive?!' followed him   
everywhere, and he had the desparate urge to laugh loudly, manically, just   
to see what the citizens of Deling City would do. However, Nabiki's hand in   
his own kept him focused on the fact that he was currently on a date.  
  
Of course, that didn't stop him from teasing the waiters at the restaurant   
they'd chosen about being afraid of a 'powerless', 'weaponless', still   
'injured' man. Nabiki had laughed several times about that one.  
  
Unfortunately, his good evening was rudely interrupted by Yuki storming into   
the restaurant, pouting. The ebon-tressed Saotome was sulking as she slammed   
her hands down on the table, and theatrically yelled, "They so _mean_!"  
  
"Too much anime," Nabiki muttered while Seifer leaned back in his chair.  
  
"Who's 'so mean'?"  
  
She dropped onto the floor, cross-legged and sighing, "Zell and Yohji. They   
said I wasn't allowed to 'play' with Rinoa!"  
  
"Chickenwuss and the Playboy?" wondered the scarred figure known as Almasy,   
"Where'd you meet up with those two? ... And do I _want_ to know what you   
wanted with an untrained Sorceress?"  
  
"Probably not," she admitted, looking up at the ceiling, "And Spike had   
'guard' duty over them, surprisingly enough. It was fluke that we ran across   
Irvine "Yohji" Kinneas."  
  
Seifer snorted, "Should have figured the Playboy and the Cowboy were the   
same person. So, where are they?"  
  
"At the apartment. They're staying the night, and then taking the first   
train out to Fisherman's Horizon to meet up with the rest of Balamb Garden."  
  
He nodded, "Alright then. We'll--"  
  
"Stay here and finish our date and plans," interrupted Nabiki, "_then_ go   
home. Yuki, avoid breaking my date the next time you want to whine."  
  
"Ja, mein gott!"  
  
"You've been hanging around Schuldich _way_ to much," Omi and Nabiki spoke   
in uncanny unison. Yuki grinned.  
  
---  
  
When the door to the apartment swung open, Fujin ignored it, concentrating   
on the computer terminal in front of her. Hacking various government   
computers to discover the whereabouts of the former-head of the disbanded DC   
was hard work. She had to be utterly focused on her consol. She--  
  
"--And Jun kept whacking him with the empty case until he gave the bear   
back!"  
  
-- was distracted by an oddly familiar, chuckling voice. She turned her   
chair about, single crimson eye patiently watching the door to her computer   
room, awaiting the visitor.  
  
Had Raijin located one of his drinking buddies from the war?  
  
Raijin was laughing, obviously from the story their guest had told,   
"_Seifer_ fighting with a seven months old? I wish _I_ could have seen that,   
ya know?!"  
  
"...Raijin?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
And Fujin was stunned, she could only stare, as a face she'd been seeing in   
her dreams since she was very young, entered the room, alongside her   
roommate.  
  
"You're the Guardian of Time! Just use the Gates to see it! Bakana!" the   
ebon haired, blue-eyed youth smacked the much larger man upside the head.   
Silently, Kazeno aprroved, then felt her world drop out from under her feet.   
The man she'd seen in her dreams for so long, the mysterious man she had   
fallen in love with... had a child.  
  
He must be married, she though despondently, crimson eye on the redheaded   
child he carried. And why wouldn't he be...? He was handsome, obviously well   
off, considering he was wearing silk, and he was strong enough to hurt   
Raijin...  
  
"Hey Fujin!" Raijin grinned cheerfully, apparently not noticing her sudden   
depression, and slapping the man on the back, "Ranma here came to see you,   
ya know!"  
  
"I will _never_ get used to that," Ranma muttered, "Crawford would never   
a'said 'ya know'!"  
  
"Yeah, but I haven't been Crawford in eighteen years, ya know!"  
  
"What?" the confused Fujin cut in, hauling attention to herself. Ranma   
grinned widely.  
  
"Hi Fujin!" and in a second, he was standing beside the woman. She recoiled   
a bit at the adoring look in his all-too-blue eyes. It was a little bit   
unnerving.  
  
"Ya know, she probably doesn't remember you," Raijin supplied helpfully   
after a few silent minutes.  
  
"Oh," and Ranma pouted, "That's not fair."  
  
Raijin managed to firmly suppress the urge to greet the floor with his nose,   
and settled for a suggestion, "I'm sure Schuldich could fix things," before   
wondering, aloud, who Schuldich was. Ranma cracked him upside the head.  
  
Again, Fujin approved, but... "Schuldich. Who?"  
  
Ranma snickered a bit. Schuldich would _not_ be happy that his best friend   
had forgotten him, "He's a telepath."  
  
/Somebody think my name?/  
  
/Hi Schuldich,/ Ranma smiled insanely, with Fujin and Raijin wondering why,   
/I found Jei-sama. Could you come fix his memories?/  
  
/Just a sec./  
  
"Ranma?" Raijin was waving his hand in front of the gender-bender's face.   
"You in there?"  
  
"Where else would I be?" wondered the martial artist, "Schuldich will be   
here in a moment."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"To fix your memories, Fujin-sama!" Ranma cheered happily, "I miss   
Jei-sama..."  
  
The confused looks of the two ex-SeeDs turned to startled ones as Schuldich   
blurred into the room, having been gated by Yuki into the kitchen area, "I'm   
here!"  
  
"Obviously," snickered Ranma, before he waved to the owners of the   
apartment, "Tah-dah! Lookie who I found!"  
  
"Crawfish and Farfie," he grinned, "We've got Yohji at the apartment with   
one of his friends. Now... let's see about those memories, shall we?"  
  
"Yosh'!"  
  
---  
  
"Please?"  
  
"No."  
  
"_Please_?"  
  
"No."  
  
"_Please_?!"  
  
"No!"  
  
Zell had finally managed to tune out the argument between Irvine and Yuki--   
which had picked up right where it had left off when she returned from   
wherever it was that she had gone-- and was watching the strange videos that   
were around the entertainments center. He had never seen anything like it!  
  
Cartoons with _plot_!  
  
He was currently watching on in that strange language he had occasionally   
heard Irvine, Selphie, Squall, Seifer, Raijin and Fujin babble in over the   
years. A language he'd questioned the majority on-- excluding Seifer, of   
course-- only to find that only Irvine knew when he had slipped into it.  
  
In any case, he was watching on in that strange language, and he was   
absurdly happy it had subtitles. These cartoons were really cool!  
  
He especially liked that Goku character. The Sanzou one reminded him a bit   
too much of _both_ Seifer _and_ Squall. The two of them as a single being   
was a _scary_ thought. Gyojo was kinda like Irvine, Ririn was like Selphie,   
Hakkai a male Quistus... he had gotten into the habit of comparing the   
characters to the people he knew, obviously.  
  
Imagining his friends in the places of the characters made him laugh loudly,   
interrupting Yuki and Irvine's battle of wills. Irvine scratched his scalp--   
having removed his ever-present cowboy hat, and surprising Zell with the   
wicked scar that had come _very_ close to removing his eye-- and spoke up,   
"What's so funny?"  
  
"This cartoon! The characters remind me of everyone back at Garden!"  
  
"Cartoon?" muttered Irvine, confused.  
  
"Jen-sue-My-den Say-you-ki," Zell stumbled over the unfamiliar words. Yuki   
blinked.  
  
"Gensumaden Saiyuki?"  
  
"Yeah, that's it!"  
  
Kinneas laughed, "That's not a cartoon, Zell. It's called an 'anime'. Short   
for Japanese animation."  
  
"Oh," Dincht had no idea what that meant, "Hey, where'd everyone go?"  
  
"Schuldich is over at Fujin's apartment with Ranma," Irvine scratched his   
chin, "Oz..."  
  
"Is withdrawing funds for groceries. Kasumi and Ken are with him," Yuki   
continued, "And Spike's hunting."  
  
"Hunting?" the other two questioned.  
  
Yuki didn't see any harm in telling them, "He's a vampire. Vampires hunt."  
  
"W-Wha..." Zell stuttered, "…b-but he's been outside during the daytime!"  
  
"And he's got a chip in his skull that's supposed to keep him from hurting   
humans. It's amazing what a Sorceress can do."  
  
"A Sorceress?!" Zell bellowed, leaping to his feet. He was more than a   
little surprised when Irvine only gave Yuki an annoyed look.  
  
"You _gave_ a vampire the ability to run around during daylight hours? Yuki   
no baka! I knew you were insane, but stupid?!"  
  
"I'm no idiot, Kudou," she snapped, "Spike's life is directly tied to   
Kasumi's and my own. Not to mention how long he spent alongside humans while   
he was still under the influence, so to speak. He's not about to commit mass   
murder. If you recall, that was _your_ job!"  
  
"Ir... Irvine...?"  
  
Yohji glared at Yuki, and then turned to look at Zell, "I was part of a   
mercenary group not unlike Garden, after my first girlfriend was murdered.   
Myself and three others were assigned to an assassination team," he steeple   
his fingers, "We left Kritiker when Yuki rescued our leader's younger sister   
from them. Although, prior to that we were already slowly breaking away from   
them. I haven't had anything to do with Kritiker or the members of the House   
for years."  
  
Zell opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by an all too familiar   
voice, "Well, well, well, Snow-chick wasn't kidding when she said the Cowboy   
and Chickenwuss were here."  
  
---  
  
End Chapter  
  
What a place to leave it, eh?  
  
It should be obvious to anyone who's played FF8 who spoke the last line ^__^  
---  
  
Mei Neko's Omake  
  
"A Sorceress?!" Zell bellowed, leaping to his feet. He was more than a   
little surprised when Irvine only gave Yuki an annoyed look.  
  
"You _gave_ a vampire the ability to run around during daylight hours? Yuki   
no baka! I knew you were insane, but stupid?!"  
  
"I'm no idiot, Kudou," she snapped, "Spike's life is directly tied to   
Kasumi's and my own. Not to mention how long he spent alongside humans while   
he was still under the influence, so to speak. He's not about to commit mass   
murder. If you recall, that was _your_ job!"  
  
Then the woman paused for a moment.  
  
"Then again that's my job, and Ranma's, and his wonderful Jei-sama's, and   
weirdo Ran's, and Kenken's, and Braddiekin's, and Nagikin's, and Omittchi's,   
and Guilty One's, and Mom's, and Kritiker's, and..."  
  
The two males blinked as she continued on rambling. The blond in total   
shock at the list of people while the older man sighed and shook his head.   
At least Yuki was still 'normal' in a sense.  
  
"Is she always like this?" Zell asked as his eyes widen at the long list of   
people. Irvin shook his head at that.  
  
"This? Nope, she's much worse then this."  
  
"...and then there's the Sailor Senshi who we already killed off, and then   
there's Glory but we killed her already, and then there's..." 


	6. BuildUp

Rokeon - Intimidation is a wonderful thing, as long as I'm not the one being   
initimidated. *sncikers* I like disturbing people. No worries, you're right,   
it _doesn't_ last long. Gensoumaden Saiyuki is an awesome show. Four guys   
fighting Youkai (when three of them _are_ Youkai, and one of them is a bad   
tempered priest who smokes, drinks, gambles, and likes firing guns). Based   
on the old legends of Sun Wu Khang (sp?)-- you know, the same legend the   
original Dragonball is based on. They have lots of fighting, some really   
fucked over flashbacks, and corruption of monks ^___^ Go watch it. The first   
episode is really boring, though...  
  
Rob - Feh, of course you can find out where I live. All it takes is getting   
on the same bus I do after school. Or asking me during spare, or before   
classes, or at lunch. Poor Rob, his computer is screwed up.   
  
Kyra - Omi is fun to write when his personality is warring with Seifer's   
over whether to be nice, or to be mean. I have up to episode 29 of Saiyuki   
^___^. He's not mad over being female, or taking lots of time to be found,   
but he/she _is_ still mad, for other reasons. You have to read to find out.  
  
purple_alicorn - No, actually, Zell _isn't_ the only native... only the only   
native they've come across. Some of the other FF8 characters are native. Ah,   
and they gather, they gather, only to be torn apart... *laughs manacially*  
  
Nightwings - I could leave it like that because it's a cliff hanger. I've   
had two people at school borrow the book I write the chapters in to find out   
what happens next. One of them wanted to throttle me, too... Ran will be   
found. Eventually. Around chapter nine or ten, I think. Can't really   
remember.  
  
Evil Stratagemini - Ah, yes, when you said it was The Shining, I remembered   
that the episode of the Simpsons with a similiar thing in it was a spoof of   
the Shining. Well, chapter five is here, without much mayhem, but chapter   
six most definately has some havoc in it. Bingo on the Jun thing. How many   
books...? Current tally is seven, although if you had asked me three months   
ago, I would have told you four. It may go up. As for the number of   
crossovers... I dunno. Current crossovers planned/gone through are   
Weiss/Ranma/Sailormoon/Buffy/FF8/Yugiou/Dejimon. Possible crossovers include   
Card Captor Sakura, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Gundam Wing, X, Furuba (Fruits   
Basket), and a whole lot more because they *points to Pat and Rob* keep   
giving me ideas.  
  
Romilly McAran - Most people tend to hate my way of thinking. Glad you like   
it. Yeah, Crawford would have made an awesome Ellone, but I have plans for   
the dark skinned wonder. Besides, I like Raijin better than Ellone. *smirks*   
Mou hitori no Bakura (Yami Bakura) is all I need to say on the part of   
bloodshed in Yugiou. Mwahahahahah!!   
  
Ran - Nice threat there. I don't think I want to be anywhere near something   
that would give Farfie pleasure-shivers if it involves me.  
  
When things get out of control, they get out of control. Why do I say   
this...? Hmmm, here's a piece of a conversation between myself, Rob and Pat.  
  
"SPIRIT OBLITERATION!"  
"Instant Transmission!"  
"SPIRIT OBLITERATION!"  
"Instant Transmission!"  
"SPIRIT OBLITERATION!"  
"Instant Transmission!"  
"WOULD YOU JUST FUCKING STAY STILL?!"  
==  
  
Confused Identity  
Chapter Five - Build-Up  
Li Xiang  
  
==  
  
"Seifer!" Zell was practically vibrating with rage, glaring holes through   
the skull of the man he'd helped to defeat. Almasy pushed past the indignant   
blonde, and smirked at Kinneas.  
  
"What do you think, Yotan? Do I look better now, or then?"  
  
"Trying to impress your girl?" Kudou wondered, his eyes half lidded, "Maybe   
you should ask Ken. He's the one dating Schuldich."  
  
"Irvine...?" Zell's rage deflated as his partner seemed to ignore the fact   
that he was talking to an enemy, "You're... you're _friends_ with-- with   
_Seifer_?!"  
  
"He was part of Kritiker," Irvine shrugged, "And assigned to my team--"  
  
"Who the hell was first, Cowboy?!"  
  
"--okay, okay, I was assigned to _his_ team."  
  
"And made a complete mess of it," the chill voice of Nabiki ripped through   
their blood, causing a shiver. She had Ultimecia's voice, but not her face,   
the two SeeD realized after a tense moment, searching out their once-enemy,  
  
The brunette dropped into the chair beside Yuki, and promptly poked the   
older Sorceress, "When do I get _my_ memories straightened out?"  
  
"After Schu is done with Crawford and Jei," Yuki smirked cheerfully,   
"Which'll be tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that, or the day   
after the day after that, or even the day after the day after the day after   
that, or it could be the day aft--"  
  
"Shut _up_, Yuki!" Nabiki, Omi, Yohji and Zell shouted in unison.  
  
"You so mean..."  
  
"It's our job," Seifer smirked, "C'mon, it's getting late. The sooner we   
sleep, the sooner Nabiki gets her memories back."  
  
"You're so sweet," she kissed him, "Right. Bedtime. Don't stay up to late!"  
  
"Why's she sound so much like Ultimecia?" Zell wondered once the pair was   
out of hearing range.  
  
Yuki sighed, and decided twisting the truth just this once was allowed.   
Normally, she'd just tell them the full naked truth, simply because of the   
shock value. But they may not take Nabiki's being Ultimecia all that well,   
and she still had uses for the younger Sorceress, "Nabiki... if Seifer dies;   
the connection between Sorceress and Knight will be shattered. She'll get a   
backlash of power and go stark raving mad. Ultimecia will be born. Seifer   
was lucky the past-self of his Sorceress was in this time. The link was   
passed to her to keep the same thing from happening to him."  
  
"She's..." Irvine gapped, "What Ultimecia was like _before_ trying to   
destroy everything?"  
  
"Exactly," Yuki leaned back in her chair, "But they've got the right idea.   
Bed Time!"  
  
Irvine would have protested, but the spell took immediate hold. He was out   
like a light, and so was Zell. Yuki followed a few moments after.  
  
---  
  
Raijin was, for the first time ever, finding himself exasperated by Fujin's   
antics. _Fujin's_. Fujin as in she-who-speaks-in-one-word-sentences, the   
same woman who kicked him in the shins every time he did something stupid.   
Which was, of course, seventy percent of the time.  
  
Fujin, who was currently using a medical scalpel-- where Ranma got it was a   
mystery-- to delicately carve a tattoo into said teenager's shoulder.   
According to Schuldich, the pair planned to have Ranma use the same scalpel   
to give his 'master' a matching scar-tattoo. All of _this_ just because the   
silver haired woman had seen a surprisingly detailed scar-tattoo cut into   
his left forearm and gotten jealous. Even after Ranma had explained that it   
had only been his sister, Fujin still demanded that she be allowed to do   
what Yuki had done before her.  
  
Ranma relented, which explained what was currently going on. Raijin had   
finally gotten annoyed enough to open his mouth and comment, when he felt   
the stirrings of a vision. His mouth slammed shut with a 'click' of his   
teeth, eyes glazing over as it hit.  
  
As always, his future-sight only gave him a rough scattering of   
incompressible images. However, his renewed connection to the Gates of Time   
had the Gate Key shifting through the images and sorting through them for   
him. While Crawford had been skilled in doing so himself, Raijin had never   
bothered to figure out his occasional vision, and was therefore out of   
practice. He was suddenly _very_ glad for the Rune Weapon's presence,   
hovering in the back of his mind.  
  
/You alright Crawfish?/ Schuldich's mental voice flickered hesitantly   
through the formerly highly shielded mind.  
  
"I'm fine," Raijin muttered back, "Just a vision, ya know?"  
  
"Not really," the German was grinned, "_I'm_ just a humble telepath,   
Oracle."  
  
"Humble?" Ranma laughed, turning incredulous eyes to his friend, "Schu, do   
you even _know_ what humble _means_?"  
  
"Do _you_, ego-boy?" wondered a grinning redhead, "Aren't _you_ the one who   
powered a ki-blast with his ego?"  
  
"Confidence!" trilled the martial artist, "It's confidence, not ego."  
  
"You keep thinking that, Bishoujo."  
  
The telepath and martial artist held gazes for the few minutes it took Fujin   
to finish her 'art' and Raijin to stop chuckling at their staring contest.   
Ranma-- or rather, the Orfiel-half of Ranma-- fed energy into the wound,   
causing it to rapidly scab over, grow scar tissue, and the scabbing to flake   
away. Ranma rolled his shoulders, testing the new skin to make sure it   
wouldn't split.  
  
The thin scars etched the image of the lightning Guardian Force, Queazcotl,   
wings spread wide.  
  
Neither Raijin nor Schuldich batted an eyelash when Fujin pulled off her own   
top, leaving herself in a bra. Ranma marveled in the fact that the reborn   
female-Farfello had a distinct lack of her previous life's physical   
scarring-- not to say that there weren't any scars, only that there were   
less. Apparently she was a lot more easy-going, and less psychotic than Jei   
had been. Even with Jei's memories, Fujin's own life experiences tempered   
her.  
  
Instead of a sociopath God-hating assassin, she was a sadomasochistic   
ex-SeeD Mercenary.  
  
Ranma lifted the scalpel and began to etch the image in his shoulder, into   
hers. Schuldich turned back to Raijin, "So, Crawfish, what was in this   
vision of yours about?"  
  
The muscle-bound, dark skinned man was leaning back against the wall,   
staring up at the ceiling and frowning. His eyes were distant as he spoke,   
"Destruction, mayhem, death and chaos," he began, "The world under the   
control of a Sorceress. I couldn't see her face, but she wasn't someone I   
know. The land of the dead, the Sailor Senshi, and others... they didn't   
want to let... someone... go. Yuki doing something stupid--"  
  
"Like _that'_ new," Saotome interrupted, accidentally yanking the mercenary   
out of his trance. He blinked rapidly.  
  
"I don't think I was supposed to say that, ya know?" he could almost _feel_   
Chronos' annoyed glare drilling between his shoulder blades. Then he paused,   
a question coming to the forefront of his mind, "Why was she called 'Pluto',   
if she controlled time?"  
  
"How," Fujin muttered, "is that relevant?"  
  
"It's not," Schuldich chuckled, "He was voicing a completely random   
thought."  
  
The large Guardian of Time chuckled a bit nervously, one hand on his hip,   
the other behind his head. It was a usual sight, which had Fujin and   
Schuldich staring and attempting to reconcile images of the aloof, devious   
Bradley Crawford, with the man standing before them. It was _very_ hard--   
even for Fujin, who had known Raijin for years.  
  
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, his expression closed off, and he stood like   
the business man Crawford happened to be. Schuldich had a sneaking suspicion   
that if Raijin had been wearing glasses, they would have gleamed evilly. The   
telepath gave his friend and former leader a hard stare, /Something wrong?/  
  
Raijin slipped over to the window of the apartment, staring out over Deling   
City. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon, promising rainfall. The younger   
man-- the German found it hard to believe that a man once his senior was now   
two and a half years younger than he-- was gripping the window with white   
knuckles. After several long moments, Oracle turned to Mastermind.  
  
"Get Yuki and Nabiki to transfer everyone excluding Ranma, Fujin and I to   
the 'base' you have in Centra. Send Yuki, Spike, and Ken to Balamb Garden.   
You may accompany them, if you so please. Ensure Jun's safety, don't let   
anyone you do not trust take the child, understand?" this, the redhead knew,   
was a mission order from the leader of Schwartz. The German nodded his   
acceptance of the terms.  
  
Just before he left, Bradley gave one last order, "Keep Balinese away from   
Rache."  
  
It caused a falter in his steps, but he knew something was up in the air,   
and he wanted everything to turn out alright. He lifted the sleeping Jun   
into his arms, and left the apartment as fast as he could run.  
  
From what he could sense from the former Crawford, time was of the essence.  
  
---  
  
Saotome Yuki cursed as she was shaken from her sleep. Slitting one brown eye   
open, she found herself blurrily glaring up at a certain redhead's ugly mug,   
"Guilt-boy...?"  
  
/We have to leave,/ telepathy was faster than speech, /Crawford had a   
vision. We have to get everyone but the sadomasochist couple and Oracle out   
of Deling, and back to the base. Something's up./  
  
"You gonna tell me more?" the assassin code named Kitsune wondered, throwing   
off her covers.  
  
/Later. When were' in Centra. Just transport everyone _now_!/  
  
"I don't have enough power stored to--"  
  
"I'll help," a tired Tendou Nabiki hovered in the door, "Both of us   
together, can blanket Deling and transport everyone to your base."  
  
The two Sorceresses held gazes for a moment before nodding. The pair moved   
to the center of the room, standing back-to-back and clasped hands. Their   
magic reacted damn near instantly as the two powerful dark mana-wielders   
combined their powers. Schuldich held his ground in the ever-increasing   
strength of the magical wind that ripped through the small apartment.  
  
Then he felt it-- one by one, the distances of his teammates suddenly   
increased and he could barely brush the very edges of their thoughts. It was   
disorientating, but not nearly so much as their sudden decreased presence   
when _he_ was the one transported to the same room.  
  
The two Sorceresses wobbled, but steadied swiftly. Everyone-- including Zell   
and Irvine, but _excluding_ the three teenagers in Deling City-- were there.   
They were confused and disorientated, but there. The German moved to a   
window to peer out at the skies.  
  
It was an empty blue, and he felt a pit form in his stomach. What was going   
to happen in Deling City? What had he left his teammates-- his friends-- to   
face alone?  
  
He shuddered to think about it.  
  
---  
  
And in the darkening clouds over the capital city of Galbadia...  
  
...something laughed.  
  
History was about to repeat itself.  
  
Again.  
  
---  
  
End Chapter 


	7. Fight

A friend of mine died last weekend. That right there explains why  
there wasn't a chapter. Now, onto the reviews...

Anubis - Not for a long while yet. No, Crawford's just worried that  
Yohji will screw up something that has to happen, at least for the  
future to turn out nicely, and not dark and life-less as he has  
forseen.

S'revan - Cliffhangers are fun... well, as long as I'm the one writing  
them Wow, death from suspense... does that count as manslaughter?

Chibi Kitsune - Aww, it's alright. I did kinda vanish for a couple  
weeks there. Yes, yes, I know I need more SchuxKen. It's coming, dont'  
worry. snickers Schuldich is never going to leave Ken alone. Never.  
I feel sorry for poor Hiroto... and the only people who have any  
idea about what I'm talking about are Rob, Pat and Amanda.

Romiily McAran - Now why would I kill my beloved Lucifier? cackles  
evilly To tell you the truth, the plan has been to have Angel  
Sanctuary in there for a long time. Go back to False Identity.  
What's Kojiro's family name? grins innocently As for Laguna, Kiros  
and Ward... Laguna shows up in later chapters, and Ward... well,  
thanks to the guys at school, we have plans for Ward. cackles evilly  
Yeah, you're right on the Jun thing. As for turning back... don't  
doubt it.

purplealicorn - I am evil, I know that. Yes... evil... yeah, I know I  
should work on Route Unknown. I will get past the ba-- no, wait,  
that's spoiling it. No spoiling any of my other stories in the  
author's notes for Confused Identity. hits self with fan

Ran - shudders You are a master at threats, Ran-kun.

Amanda - (Ano Kojena Nyaseina) - ... No kidding it was the same  
chapter you read at lunch. I did kinda type it from that book. Hmmm...  
have you read Daisuke Lost yet? It's something like 26 pages now.  
pauses No, I don't think you have. It's the one thatcomes between  
Books 4 & 5 (and don't start with the "finish book four first" thing.)

Pat (Cyberhunter) - You could also ask for the Amazing Green Book of  
Identity, you know. And I'm not going to stop with the cliffhangers.  
In some ways Rob has it worse than you-- he gets to read chapters that  
cut off mid sentence. Then again, you could be doing that, too. Have  
you read the recent parts of Daisuke Lost?

Kyra - Foreshadowing is fun Ah, no. They aren't going to die. One  
character will die. And come back. Gotta love FVIII's Life Magic and  
Phoenix Downs.

Evil Stratagemini - Naturally, you like being right. Everyone likes  
being right. I, personally, am never wrong. Bloodshed in this chapter,  
and... ouuu, you're really going to like one of the coming chapters.  
grins widely Oh, And it's FF8 history.

Oh, yeah... ATTENTION! ATTENTION!

Pat wants to make a movie/show version of the Identity Series, but he  
needs art. Anyone care to offer? Post links in the reviews, if you have  
your own site to upload it to. Email me at if you don't  
have a site.

Confused Identity  
Chapter Six - Fight  
Li Xiang

They stood on the precipice of the presidential palace, having mowed  
through the guards that had attempted to stop them. The trio were  
dressed, armed, and prepped for battle. And battle they would, as they  
could feel a dark presence hanging in the air around them. It was a  
chilling feeling that sent shivers of terror down the spine, and  
Raijin wondered how the men and women in the city below could possibly  
ignore it.

Ranma, to his left, was excitedly bouncing in place. He hadn't had a  
decent fight for ages, not since before the pregnancy. Fujin was  
equally excited, although she appeared much more stoic and  
unconcerned. Only the fact that Raijin had known and been around her  
for ages let him see past the cool veneer to the excited psychopath  
beneath the surface.

Well, that and she kept running her fingers over her chakra, an  
obvious sign of the anticipation of bloodshed.

The more things change... he mused with a soft chuckle.

"How much longer?" whined Ranma, popping briefly into female form to  
employ the almighty Puppy-Dog Eyes.

Raijin forced himself not to look at Ranma-onna. He didn't have  
Crawford's apathy to fall back upon to prevent him from turning into a  
stuttering wreak. Staring up into the ebon and thundering clouds, he  
could only frown, "Soon, Ranma. Soon."

--

Zell was nervous.

He had no idea what was going on around him. He recalled talking with  
Miss Yuki, then her telling to 'sleep', then waking up as his cranium  
impacted with the ground. When his skull had stopped throbbing-- or at  
least, faded to a bearable level-- and he'd gotten back onto his feet,  
he was surrounded by people he didn't know.

Oh, he recognized Spike, Yuki and Irvine, matching faces to names, and  
he'd seen a number of the others before, he didn't actually know  
anyone outside of Irvine.

Then Yuki had hauled a fire-headed man wearing a yellow bandana to his  
feet, glaring into his jade eyes, "Explain. Now."

The man sighed, "Is everyone here?"

"Minus my brother, Jei and Crawford."

"What's going on, Schuldich?" wondered Irvine, and Zell felt the fact  
that he didn't really know the Cowboy all that well curl in his  
stomach. Kinneas knew these people, Dincht did not. He was all alone,  
amid strangers. The realization that Irvine had kept something so  
large from his teammates and friends at Balamb Garden drove an  
ice-pike through his churning insides. It was almost terrifying to  
know that he had no idea of how any of these people would react-- to  
anything.

The redhead massaged his temples, "I don't know. Crawford's always  
been hard to read, and now that Raijin's 'remembered' the Gates, I  
can't even sift through his mind. All I know is somethin's going  
down, and only Ranma, Farfie and Crawfish were allowed to remain  
behind. He also said that Yuki, Spike, Ken and myself were to head to  
Balamb Garden."

"That doesn't tell us much," the blue and yellow-- lemon yellow, that  
is, not blonde-- haired young adult returned calmly. He didn't seem  
like the type to ever get excited. Schuldich nodded irritably.

"I know. We just got to believe that Brad knows what he's doing."

"You doubt that?" Irvine raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Ranma hasn't fought-- seriously fought-- since Cosmos."

Irvine's eyes widened.

"Shit."

--

And the dark clouds parted with thunderous applause.

It was an awesome sight to behold; the Sorceress descending from the  
heavens, her great black wings beating imperiously. She had an  
appearance that was more male than female, but the darkness of the  
clouds prevented anyone from below realizing such.

At least, up until a chakra cut through the air, slamming into her  
left wing, and ricocheting back to it's owner's palm. Adel gave a  
shriek of pain, whirling on the spot to face the trio standing behind  
her upon the rooftop. The chakra in Fujin's raised hand was an obvious  
sign as to who it was that had attacked her.

Adel raised her hands, preparing a spell, and opened her mouth to make  
from most likely regurgitated speech about attacking one's betters,  
when Ranma hit her with a "Mouko Takabisha!"

"Ha! Attack first, gloat later!" crowed the gender-bender.

"Take your own advise!" sneered the Sorceress, flinging a Water spell  
at Ranma. The teenager twisted skillfully out of the way as Adel threw  
spell after spell at the frantically dodging male. Her distraction  
cost her, as she'd forgotten about Fujin and Raijin.

They had not forgotten her.

The pair worked in eerie, silent concert, the way only long time  
partners could. The Guardian of Time's bo-staff lashed out, catching  
her across the back of her neck. The Sorceress stumbled, falling into  
the path of Fujin's chakra, of which ripped it's passage across the  
flesh of her belly, slicing nearly an inch and a half in. Raijin's bo  
arced around in a reserve of his previous swing, catching her under  
the chin and sending her rearing backwards.

Back to meet Saotome's foot. Not to mention his fists, as the martial  
artist beat viciously upon his enemy's unprotected back, shoulders and  
skull.

"Enough!" screamed the dark-winged woman, unleashing an unfocused  
blast of pure mana. The three battle-goers were thrown off-- Brad  
skidding across roof tiles, Jei-onna ricocheting off a statue to land  
on a balcony, and Ranma just barely managing to grab hold of the  
roof's edge. With a pull and a twist, he yanked himself back up onto  
the roof top, and was only just getting his feet back under him when  
the unprepared young man was hit with a Thundaga spell.

He screamed and howled like a cat as he was electrocuted.

"Ranma!" Raijin drew himself back onto his own feet, tearing through  
the continued spell, unaffected by the electrical energy-- in fact, he  
was gaining strength from the energy pounding into his body and  
Ranma's. With a grunt, he swept Ranma's surprisingly heavy form up off  
the ground, leaping for safety. They had not been prepared to fight  
someone of Adel's raw power-- not with Ranma still recovering from  
pregnancy.

Bradley had known that since his vision that evening. Had known that  
they'd fail to defeat Adel-- but these three could survive. If the  
others had remained behind, they would have been eliminated as a large  
threat. Jun would have been guardian-less, and would not end up  
where she would be needed when the time came.

No, it was infinitely better that only the three of them would get the  
ever living shit beat out of them. They would survive, because their  
friends were safely out of the city.

This was what he was trying to convince himself to believe as he  
watched Fujin viciously attack the Sorceress, furious over the attack  
on her lover.

Raijin placed Ranma out of the fight-zone, before charging back into  
battle, the "wooden" bo-staff in his hand glinting in an all too  
metallic way. Fujin landed lightly beside him, panting from the  
exertion of battle. A harsh, ruby eye turned on the dark skinned one,  
"Ranma?"

"Unconscious," he returned, his own gaze on the Sorceress, Mana filled  
the air, and the pair cursed, leaping apart and away as the Blizzara  
spell impacted where they had been standing but seconds before. Ice  
washed over the rooftop, freezing into place in seconds, leaving only  
treacherous ground to stand on.

Even Fujin knew they would fail in the battle, but the silver haired  
woman did not give up easily.

Five minutes later, as Raijin passed out from being hit with Ultima,  
he noted that his silver haired companion had managed to throw an Aero  
spell before she, too, passed out. He knew she was only worried for  
her Kitty, even though she didn't need to be.

He was the seer, after all, and he understood what was to come.  
Ranma's power, his own, and Fujin's stubborn want to see things  
through would only hinder the others, now. So he'd had them taken out  
of the fight.

Not permanently, however. They would be needed in time. And when that  
time came, they'd be there.

Everything was in Yuki's hands now.

Hyne save us.

--

The wail of a child rang out through the Centra base, causing multiple  
people to bolt to Saotome Jun's side. Kasumi was cradling the infant,  
rocking her back and forth, murmuring soothing nothings to her, but  
the redhead was still caterwauling uncontrollably. The seven month  
old's aunt stepped in, an unreadable mask over her normally expressive  
face.

Calmly, she picked up her dear niece, and began to rock her like  
Kasumi had done. Unlike the younger female, however, Yuki was not  
babbling soothing words or sounds-- she was whispering promises of  
vengeance, death, destruction and mayhem into the girl's ear, her  
voice soft and cheerful, as though she was announcing that she had won  
several billion dollars, and that they could now quite their dead end  
jobs. It was not a tone for threats, which made it all that much more  
creepy; but it calmed Jun's crying. The baby hiccupped, clinging to  
Yuki's haori.

Furious umber eyes looked up at her companions, "Ranma's down. I  
assume that Brad and Farfello are as well. Ken, Spike, we're leaving  
for Balamb. Now."

They were not facing Saotome Yuki, insane and loving it, the older  
sister of Saotome 'Kitty' Ranma, girlfriend of Aya and close friend of  
Jei. They were looking upon the visage of the assassin codenamed  
Kitsune, a woman raised by Bane, baptized in a rain of blood.

And she was Pissed Off.

--

The Garden was brought to full alert when the news of Adel's almost  
effort-less conquering of the Galbadian Capital reached them. The  
mercenaries were thrown back into the militarian state they had only  
just managed to drag themselves out of. It appeared that the war  
wasn't quite over just yet.

"Well," husked an unfamiliar voice, once the Heros of the Second  
Sorceress War had gathered upon the bridge, "At least you lot are  
prompt."

The SeeDs were in battle mode almost instantly, facing the wall from  
which the man's voice had come. A peroxide blonde man, a scar through  
his brown left eyebrow, and dressed in black and red was leaning  
against the controls that would control the lift. Pale blue eyes were  
hard as diamonds as he stared back at them.

"Maybe we should have gotten Yohji and Zell to write us a pass?"  
wondered another man, who had just arrived from the lift. His hair and  
eyes were dark. A brown leather jacket was thrown over his pale shirt,  
a jean jacket tied around his waist. He, too, wore a closed, cold  
expression.

"Who are you two?" growled the Commander of Garden, one Squall  
Leonhart.

"You should have asked 'four'," interrupted a woman's voice, "You were  
a lot more polite when you were Naoe Nagi. But as for your  
question..."

"Spike," the blonde with the accent raised his scarred brow.

"Ken," the brown haired male indicated himself. To the SeeDs, if they  
hadn't been on guard, they would have found the man bearing a  
startling resemblance to Selphie rather amusing. He seemed to have  
appeared from nowhere, draped across the younger man.

/Schuldich/ the nasal voice rippled through their minds, not unlike  
the voices of their Guardian Forces. The redhead was smirking.

Then came a terrifying moment of shock, as an ebon tressed woman  
seemed to rise up, out of the floor, brown eyes flashing in suppressed  
rage. She ignored the weapons aimed at her, walking towards Squall  
with steady steps.

She stared into his blue-grey eyes, searching.

Then, she smiled, "Nice to see that you can still kill, Amun-Ra," she  
stood back, turning to face the others gathered in the room, "I do  
hope you don't mind our sudden appearance, but we've been told to  
come work with you."

"You still haven't given us your name," Quistis interrupted.

The ebon tressed woman grinned, "Atashi wa kijutsu 'Kitsune' Saotome  
Yuki desu. Hitokiri."

Selphie's eyes widened and she yelped, "Assassin? Assassin?!" even as  
Squall murmured, "'Art of Energy'...? A Sorceress...?"

Ken's eyes shifted between the two, a tired smile on his lips, "It's  
nice to know they still understand Japanese."

Yuki smiled, clapping her hands," Right on the girl, girls and guys. I  
am Assassin-Sorceress Saotome 'Kitsune' Yuki... and I'm here to help  
you get rid of the Sorceress in Deling City," eyes darkened and power  
flooded off of her, filling the senses of all present, "She will  
pay for harming my brother!"

--

End Chapter


	8. Positions

**August 19, 2008: **Lalalala, ignore this. I'm just reposting this chapter since I discovered that the formatting was full of fail. On that cheerful note, my oh so faithful watchers/readers/stalkers/whathaveyou, I have a message! If you are still waiting around for the Identity Series and are not a part of either the itchfanfic or the identityseries yahoo groups, I would like to direct your attention to my other handle:** The Itch.** The newest rewrite of the Identity Series has been posted. Well, the first chapter of it, at least. Already over 10k words, at that!

* * *

I bet you're all wondering why there was no chapter last week. One word.

Otafest.

I became the Amazing Walking Autograph at Otafest (Calgary's anime  
convention), last week, as well as buying some cool shit. Volume Three of  
Priest (which I have been looking for...), thirty-nine dollars worth of  
posters, and a pencil board. Oh. And a Jounouchi/Joey starter deck, because  
that's the only one I didn't have.

So, yeah, that's where I was last weekend.

Oh, look! Reviews! Yes, I'm in an odd mood. My Grad Banquet is tomorrow  
night.

purplealicorn - Hehehehe, RU is it's own story, and I'm keeping it to me  
until the next chapter is released. Now. Maybe I should actually work on  
RU. I'm not saying anything about the "native" you named who isn't exactly a  
native. Yeah, Ranma and Farfie as parents is a very screwed up idea (why do  
you think I went with it V) and even though Jun and Daisuke are  
messed up in Dejimon Adventure 02, they've got nothing on the hell I will  
create with them, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Anubis - Lots of people don't like Rinoa. I'm one of those people, but to  
further the plot, and to allow for what I want to happen in books 5 & 6, Omi  
must be Seifer, Nagi must be Squall, and Rinoa actually sticks around. Oh  
well... can't have everything.

Stratagemini - What, no 'Evil'? Nope, no memories have been awakened thus so  
far. Smirks

S'revan - Ah, then I am doing my job.

Ran - He hides your Gi? Ch' that sucks-- my gi stays right where it is, but  
then, my brother would probably freak out before getting anywhere near my  
closet (not like he could, considering everything that's in front of it.  
Ouu, hey, my Yohji Cosplay outfit is still in front of it. .;;). If you  
think Yuki's pissed now wait until we get a bit further into the story.  
laughs It's fun. And Crawford/Raijin takes tips from a certain anime on  
how to deal with broken bones.

Adyen - World Destruction? Nope, not currently. (Although, in a future book,  
you do learn that an alternate reality got destroyed when the Fourth  
Horsemen was born. And that's not really a spoiler, since you don't know who  
the Horsemen are, or why they're around. Whether they're good ro bad. It's  
all good.)

Shinigami-chan - Ah, the joys of not understanding F88. Shouldn't be to hard  
to find out the plot of the game. That is, if you can track down "Lost  
Stories of the Soul" since it's pretty much a play-by-play of the entire  
game (with some extra scenes included, as well as copious amounts of  
SeiferxSquall hints). I'm sure there are other stories as well. If you want  
a good archive of FF8 fics, just email me, I can send it to you.

Kyra - Nope, not Xian. She's... elsewhere. snickers Lots of fun. I've  
totally messed with everyone. Here's a hint: feel very, very, very sorry for  
Zoicite. laughs hysterically

Nightwings - Well, it's a week later than I hoped, but here's chapter seven.

Pat - It's the Holy Book now, eh? Still haven't found any pictures for your  
anime-version of The Identity Series?

--  
ATTENTION! ATTENTION!  
pat wants to make a movie/show version of the Identity Series, but he needs  
art. Anyone care to offer? Post links in the reviews, if you have your own  
site to upload it to. Email me at if you don't have a site.

Confused Identity  
Chapter Seven - Positions  
Li Xiang

"Why are you helping us?" Rinoa turned slightly, dividing her attention  
between the landscape and the redheaded, green-eyed man at her side, "I  
mean... we know Sorceress Yuki wants vengeance for her brother... but why  
are you helping? Why do Ken and Spike help?"

Schuldich didn't care to divide his attention, instead lavishing it  
completely upon the young Sorceress at his side, "That... is a complicated  
matter," crossing his arms, he sighed, "For Spike, it's a combination of  
lust for blood, lust for battle, and keeping the woman he's been bound to  
safe and well. Kenken... he feels that it's a way to repent for killing  
those who had been close friends, as well as a want to find his former  
leader. Abyssian is still missing, after all."

"And you?"

The flirtatious redhead chuckled, directing his answer right into her mind,  
/That, liebechen, is rather personal. I do this for Ken... and for my poor,  
deluded sister./

"Your sister...?"

"Ah-ah," he waggled a finger, smirking, /Some things should remain a secret  
for awhile, ja?/

Shaking her head, Rinoa returned her attention to the sea, and the incoming  
landmass known as the Galbadian Continent. Battle was coming. They needed to  
prepare.

Irvine cradled the child in his arms, staring out over the blasted landscape  
of the continent of Centra. He had wanted to return to Balamb Garden, but  
the simple explanation of a vision that Crawford had, held him back.  
Bradley's ability to see the future was something Kinneas did not wish to  
double guess.

He didn't want to mess things up if he was somewhere he shouldn't be. It  
didn't mean he had to like it.

Sighing, the Cowboy stood, padding away from the window and towards the  
computer consol where Seifer had set up shop. It was strange to see the  
largely muscled mercenary rapidly tapping away at the keyboard, after having  
fought him so valiantly.

Stranger yet was the fact that when it came to computers, every movement,  
every action, was that of Omi's. If not for the fact that he was rather more  
muscled, and the scar crossing his brow, one would not realize that the Omi  
from days past had transformed into a loud, arrogant mercenary, ready to do  
anything to protect his ideals. Yohji was still trying to assimilate that.

"Well?"

Seifer didn't even look up, "Adel's got them locked up in D-District. She'd  
just going to hold them for awhile. No plans for execution yet. Kadowaki  
actually does have records of Squall's telekinetic abilities from a few  
years back; that's why he was assigned Shiva at eleven and Quezacotl at  
fourteen."

"What do you mean?"

"The presence of Shiva in his mind kept Squall too preoccupied to use his  
'inherently Sorcerous' powers. At fourteen he used his telekinesis to throw  
a tree at the T-Rexaur that attacked Fujin and took her eye. Cid gave him  
Queazcotl to keep the powers tamped again," Seifer snorted, "I didn't help.  
Most of the time he used his telekinesis was to end some of our fights."

Irvine pinched the bridge of his nose, "So... instead of letting Squall  
learn to use his powers... they locked them away? Oh yes, that was a  
smooth move."

Laughter from the door broke their conversation and called their attention,  
and they turned to find Nabiki and Kasumi standing there. Nabiki was  
laughing, and Kasumi was blushing rather brightly. The two men wondered what  
they had missed that had the two ladies reacting as such. Unfortunately,  
they wouldn't be able to learn of the sisters' previous conversation,  
because just before the two females could enter the main room of the base,  
alarms began to blare.

Seifer whirled back to the computer, fingers dancing over the keyboard. The  
main screen, spanning almost half the wall in front of him, flickered on.  
So, too, came on the smaller monitors lingering either side of the main  
monitor.

The smaller screens cycled through both inside and outside security cameras.  
The main one scanned the surrounding landscape and skyscape slowly.

Nabiki's hand landed on her boyfriend's shoulder, "What's happening?"

Blue-green eyes were locked upon the monitors, scanning as best as a single  
man could, "No idea. Cowboy, Kasumi! Check the other screens for hostiles!"

"You got it," Kasumi swung into another chair, flicking on another few  
screens on the left side of the main monitor. Chocolate eyes searched out  
for anything that could possibly be considered an enemy.

Familiar with the set up-- it was almost identical to the screens in the  
House-- Yohji dropped into a chair, having handed Jun off to Nabiki. He  
began to skim through the scenes being displayed by the monitors on the  
right. Within moments, he was absorbed in his work.

Not one of the trio looked up when Zell and Oz flew into the room. The  
Sorceress, however, turned to face them, "Any idea of what's going on?"

"You don't know either?!" the blonde punk slammed his fist into the wall,  
denting the steel, "Shit. We're running blind..."

"Deaf and Dumb, too, Chickie," Seifer threw in, still scanning camera  
images, "What the hell set the alarms off?"

"No id-- what's this?" Kasumi focused on one monitor, then toggling it to  
the main screen, "Hostile?"

"Fuck yeah," Irvine scowled, ignoring the slap to the back of his head he  
got for swearing in front of Jun. He used his cowboy hat to mop his  
forehead, "Centrian Militants. Terrorists of the highest degree."

"What did we do to get their attention?" pondered Dincht.

Nabiki scowled, "We built this base. They probably want to take it from us."

A chair skittered backwards, and the blonde that had been sitting in it,  
picked up the glinting black metal that had rested beneath it. Hyperion in  
hand, he gave those gathered a feral grin, "Well. We aren't just going to  
have it over, now are we?"

"Ken! Look out!" Selphie shrieked as she watched the T-Rexaur lunge for the  
male. They had gone into the Training Center to prepare for the coming  
battles-- there was always at least one SeeD with the four who had arrived  
"to help". They weren't exactly trusted, but that hardly made the bubbly  
brunette want to watch one die.

Her eyes flew wide when the ancient beast's head missed Ken, as he'd sunk  
through the metal plating of the Training Center's floor. The assassin  
promptly attacked the confused saurian's exposed flank with the wicked  
bugnuks that decorated his gloves. He leapt back after a moment, dodging the  
creature's powerful tail.

"How..." Selphie stuttered, but still... something about what Ken had just  
done hit a familiar chord in the back of her mind, "Hyne! Don't scare me  
like that, Ghostie!"

He cast her a quick grin, "Then attack already!"

"Ouuu...!" her eyebrow twitched, and she made a large sweep with her flail,  
one that Ken phased straight through, and that cracked the T-Rexaur across  
the snout. The monster roared and made for her, but the flail moved again--  
this time catching it in the beast's trachea. It stumbled back with a  
wheeze, and Ken prepared to jump on it to finish the fight.

He never got the chance.

"Diamond Dust."

Ice crystals exploded from the ground around it, a frosty breeze rippling  
past them and freezing the T-Rexaur solid. The ice shattered abruptly, and  
the massive tyrant lizard crashed to the ground. Well and truly dead.

"Hi Squall," Selphie turned to face her Commander with a flat stare, "We  
could have taken it out, you know."

There was a snicker from the two dark haired Sorceresses with the Commander  
of Garden. Rinoa smiled apologetically at the two fighters, "Yes, we know  
Selphie. However, this is--"

"--fucking important," Yuki finished, sending Ken a lock that all but  
screamed 'dare speak in the next few minutes, and you'll be less your  
testicles'. Ken dutifully kept his mouth shut. The Sorceress adjusted her  
haori, "Adel's been busy over the past few weeks," and she began to pace.

"Busy doing what?" wondered Tilmett.

"Building support. She's got the Centrian Militia wrapped around her  
fingers," Yuki glared a hole into the ground as she stalked back and forth,  
"Trabia's Blood Army have stated their intentions to assist her. Thankfully,  
the Trabian Military will resist their efforts."

Squall crossed his arms, "The Estharian President is lending us his  
support."

"And that Man is getting as many people out of Deling City as he can," Rinoa  
put forth.

Selphie gave both flat stares, "You two really are the perfect couple.  
Both of you refuse to admit that you have fathers!"

Yuki chuckled softly, "If their dads are anything like mine was... I can  
understand why they'd do that."

"Back on track," Rinoa interrupted hastily, "Adel's moving quickly. We're  
not."

"We're almost to Galbadia," Ken pointed out, breaking his silence.

Squall shook his head, "Not enough." and promptly turned on one heel and  
walked away. Rinoa shot the others an apologetic look, before racing after  
her boyfriend.

Yuki watched them leave for a moment, before turning back to Selphie and  
Ken, "Alright. Ghost-boy, Death-chick, we've got some work to do."

"Death-chick?" quoth Selphie, "I don't mean to be rude but... are you on  
something, Miss Yuki?"

"The world makes more sense when you're high," she smiled sagely, "But, to  
answer your question... no, I'm not."

"Yeah," Ken clapped a hand to the brunette's shoulder, "It's just the way  
she is. Besides, you'd understand it if you had all your memories."

"All my... do you mean that you knew me a few years ago? During the gaps in  
my memories?"

"Knew you?" Yuki half-cackled, "We lived with you! Not important. What's  
important is this: You're only operating at your lowest power tier. If we  
want to take out Adel, you're going to have to be higher."

"Lowest...? What in the world are you babbling about, Miss Yuki?"

"Saturn," Ken and Yuki spoke in unison. Ken gave his sort-of-friend and  
former housemate a toothy grin, "That's you, Selphie. You are Saturn."

"Soldier of death and rebirth," Yuki contributed, "Only once have you ever  
reached your highest tier-- Death herself."

"Okay, you two are nuts," Selphie shot them a glare, "How could I be  
Dea--"

"Ask Irvine," Ken cut her off, "He remembers it."

She froze; then frowned, "Irvy isn't here... I can't ask him. I want proof."

Yuki smirked, "Hold your hands out in front of you, like this. Will the  
Silence Glaive into them."

"I bet I'll look really stupid," she muttered before doing as asked. Her  
closed eyes snapped open as wide as they possibly could when cold iron  
touched bare skin. In her hands, she held a simple iron bar, tipped with  
wickedly curved and most assuredly lethal bone-white blades. A comforting  
sense of familiarity flooded her as she looked upon it.

--not Osaka. I am no Tomoe. I am Vengeance. I am De--

"Wha... what?" she stuttered, over come with the flash of memory. Ken and  
Yuki watched curiously.

--ad. They're dead. She'll pay!! Sh--

Selphie slid down the pole arm, still staring at it.

--ould I? Can I destroy it? It was my home... no. My pris--

Brown eyes began to speckle emerald and amethyst as the memories pounded in  
her skull, blood and ebon leeching into her hair.

--oned. You can't keep me here forever, Serenity! I will be--

Selphie Tilmett collapsed against her weapon.

End Chapter

Yes, I know I am so mean for that cliffie smirk

* * *

**August 19th, 2008: **Once again this isn't a new chapter. This is an edit to fix the horrendous formating.

For new chapters of the Identity Series visit the author page for **The Itch**. The rewrite ("False Identity: Secondary Timeline") will be posted under that pen name. Thanks for your continued interest in this old and admittedly painful first leap into the world of crossovers!


End file.
